Understanding the Subtleties of Love
by Sculpin
Summary: When Blake gets a job, Yang is stuck with nothing to do in the afternoon. Luckily, she finds a way to entertain herself: watching her dorky sister and her equally as dorky partner.
1. Chapter 1

**Understanding the Subtleties of Love**

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 **Chapter 1: Blake Abandons Yang Except This Time It's Not as Serious**

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Yang found out on Sunday night as they were getting ready for bed.

"I got a job," Blake said in the casual way she said most things. "An internship actually."

She leaned over from above and peered down into the shadows of Blake's bunk where she could see her partner's luminous eyes flicking back and forth, scanning the pages of a book.

"What? Why?" she asked. This had come out of nowhere. She hadn't known Blake was even looking for a job.

"We're in our second year and it's time I started thinking of my future," Blake stated without looking up from her reading. "I was planning on starting a Faunus rights group, one that didn't resort to terrorism. And I needed to learn more about running an organization so I asked Professor Goodwitch if I can help with anything. She said yes."

"Oh. I didn't know about all this."

Blake must have heard the unusual quietness in her voice because she lowered her book and gazed up at Yang.

"It was sudden. I didn't mean to keep it from you for long. Sorry."

"Aw, it's alright," she smiled, cheered from the fact that it wasn't meant to be a secret, "when do you start?"

"Tomorrow. I have to report to Goodwitch's office every day after classes end."

"How many hours a day?"

"Two."

Yang furrowed her brow. "So what am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

Blake had returned to her book.

"I dunno. You'll find something."

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It was Monday afternoon and Yang had finished her last class for the day. She hated having Port for last period when her energy was lowest. The professor's voice had a way of burrowing into her brain and scraping at the back of her eyes. It didn't help that the rest of her team didn't have the same class. Due to the variety of their electives, her teammates had been scattered across the schedule. Blake had Port in the middle of the day while Ruby and Weiss, at Weiss' insistence, had him first thing in the morning. But all that didn't matter now because the day was over and she could finally relax.

Yang burst into the dorm with gusto. "Hey, Blake, you'll never guess—"

She was met with an empty room.

Oh, that's right. The internship.

She tossed her bag onto her desk chair and clambered into her bunk. Usually at this time, she would chat with Blake about the day including complaints about their professors and the homework they assigned. Then she'd ask Blake if she wanted to do something to which the reply was almost always "no." She would then drag the Faunus out of her bed and they would play video games or head to the training room or study in the library or just hangout outside. With her partner now busy in the school office, Yang had nothing to do save for staring at the ceiling and counting the little points of stucco until her eyes drowsily eased shut.

"You idiot, let me see that."

It didn't feel like had she slept for long before voices pried into her subconscious and forced her awake, though she still couldn't find the strength to open her eyes. Weiss and Ruby had come back from whatever they were doing and now Weiss' angry hisses were filling the room.

"I can't believe you have to rewrite this. How much time did you spend on this?"

"I—uh…20?"

"20 what? Minutes?"

Yang could imagine Ruby had nodded guiltily because she heard Weiss take a deep breath and slowly let the air out through her nose. Yang found it in her to crack open a single eyelid. Weiss and Ruby were standing on their side of the room next to their beds. The heiress was holding a piece of paper, no doubt the offending essay that had to be rewritten, while Ruby hung her head in shame.

"You spent all weekend playing games and now look at what's happened. Your essay was so bad, Professor Oobleck made you do all of it over again!" Weiss marched over to where her and Ruby's desks sat side by side and slammed down the essay. "We are going to sit here until you've corrected all your mistakes."

Ruby's head snapped up in protest. "But you said we could go sparring today!"

"That was before I learned I had underestimated my partner's irresponsibility," Weiss pointed at the chair in front of her, "Now sit."

Yang watched in amusement as her sister slowly trudged across the room, dragging her boots on the ground to show her displeasure. This did nothing to deter Weiss' determination, the girl crossing her arms and tapping her foot in impatience. Truth to be told, it was Yang that had convinced Ruby to play Ninja Fighter 3 all weekend though she hadn't known Ruby had only spent 20 minutes writing the paper. She mentally shrugged. That was her sister's own fault.

It was quiet now. The pair had settled down at their respective desks, Weiss reading a book and Ruby hunching over her essay. Yang couldn't see if Ruby was writing or not, but there was no movement or sound of a pencil on paper so she assume the latter. Predictably, it wasn't long before Ruby let out a cry of frustration and threw her down.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she whined, "Weiss, help me!"

Yang winced. This was definitely not going to go over well with the ice queen. She saw Weiss take a deep breath to no doubt explode in rage. But surprisingly, she exhaled and quietly scooted her chair next to Ruby's.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"Uh…"

Weiss let out a huff. "Fine, we'll take it line by line."

She leaned over and pointed at something on the page.

"Look at this sentence. It's Major Gray, not Captain. He didn't lead the charge up Tulip Hill, he commanded his troops from the back. And he definitely did not slaughter 200 beowolves with his bare hands."

Weiss slowly began working through the text, pointing out mistakes, grammar errors, and places where Ruby just made up facts to "make things more interesting." Yang yawned. The heiress could blather on and on about boring things for a while. She didn't know how Ruby could stand being lectured all the time. Yang could only handle a few minutes of Weiss' talking before her gaze slid over to her sister.

As expected, Ruby wasn't paying attention. She wasn't even looking at her essay. In fact, Yang noticed, she was staring at Weiss. As Weiss was talking, Ruby's silver eyes roved around her partner's face, jumping from her eyes, to her nose, down to her lips, and back again.

What was this? Had Ruby always looked at Weiss this way? It wasn't a normal look like when she held a conversation with somebody. It was like she was trying to study Weiss' face. Like she was trying to commit every little detail to memory. And also something else. Something that was off. Something strange. Yang finally remembered when she'd seen this look before. She'd seen the same look of Blake's face that time the cafeteria served grilled salmon for dinner.

It was the look of hunger.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Weiss' irritated tone snapped Yang out of her reverie. Ruby was now nervously glancing back and forth between Weiss and the paper.

"Yes, of course I was."

Weiss glared. "Then what was I talking about?"

"You were talking about the supply chain to the forward operating base being cut off during the Spring Offensive."

"Hmm," Weiss gave Ruby a surprised look. "So you _were_ listening."

The short-haired girl frowned. "I always listen to you."

Weiss scoffed, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "When? When do you ever listen?"

Ruby grinned.

"When it matters."

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Blake came back soon after and Yang pretended to stretch when the Faunus woke her up. Weiss and Ruby were still at the desk, squabbling over something about pencil smudges. But Yang's mind was blown. What had occurred was completely different from anything she had ever seen from Ruby and Weiss. First, the heiress had actually been nice and had even smiled a little. And then Ruby's staring. What the hell was that all about? Part of her suspected the reason, but she had to be sure. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"Yang."

She shook her head, clearing any confusing thoughts out of her already overloaded brain.

"Uh, what'd you say?"

Blake raised her eyebrows. "I asked you if you found something to do while I was gone."

"Yeah," she nodded thoughtfully, "I think I did."

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 **Please review! Any grammar/spelling corrections are appreciated. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Ruby's Delicate Flower**

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As soon as the bell rang, Yang shot up from her seat and pushed through the crowd towards the door, barreling through plenty of her angry classmates along the way. Of course, no one was strong enough to stop her so they all had to deal with getting shoved to the side. She wasn't normally in this much of a rush, but today was Tuesday: her first official day of observation. She had to get back to the dorms before Weiss and Ruby. The only reason they were so late yesterday was because Ruby was held behind by Oobleck to discuss her botched essay. Furthermore, Yang had to ensure she was already pretending to sleep when they arrived as they would surely act differently if they knew she was watching them.

Yang's effort was rewarded. The dorm was empty and it didn't seem like Ruby or Weiss had come back yet as indicated by the lack of schoolbags on the ground. Stowing her own bag underneath Blake's bunk, she quickly jumped into bed and closed her eyes. This was the most difficult part of her plan: lying still without actually falling asleep. Yang hated waiting for anything, always chomping at the bits to take action. She had asked Blake how she was so patient all the time to which the reply was a slight shrug and a non-committal "I dunno." Yang had almost mentioned her theory that Blake's disposition was related to her genetic make-up being part feline. But that wouldn't have gone over very well so she had kept her mouth shut.

Yang was drawn back to the task at hand when the door suddenly opened. Though half opened eyes, she saw Ruby enter the room, drop off two schoolbags, grab a vial of dust from Weiss' shelf, and leave, shutting the door behind her. Yang hadn't factored this into her calculations though she should have realized her subjects did not have to stay in the room. Cursing herself for her idiocy, she leapt down and dashed into the hallway to hopefully catch a glimpse of where her sister was headed. No chance. The corridor was empty, Ruby long gone by use of her semblance. The blonde sighed. The hard way it was.

Ten minutes later, Yang found herself standing at the entrance to the shooting range. She had asked the first person she met if they had seen a red blur zoom by and, through careful questioning, she had followed a trail of witnesses all the way outside to her current location. Buried underground at the south end of campus, the shooting range at Beacon was designed for the large variety of weapons its students wielded. There were numerous booths for long, mid, and close range weapons, each separated by force fields to contain stray projectiles and minimize damage. The log book at the front desk showed there were only a few students at the range today. Ruby's messy scrawl and Weiss' neat print were the most recent, both signed up for a long range booth. The rules were that you had to sign in to enter which presented a problem for Yang since she wanted to operate in stealth. The ever observant Weiss would definitely notice her name when they signed out. Making a quick decision, she scribbled down "Blake Belladonna" for a mid-range booth. She'd tell Blake to make up a story later.

Yang usually practiced in the close range booths so she never really had reason to walk down to the end of facility where all the long range booths were. The booths all ran parallel to each other, open at the close end with targets at the far end. As she neared the long range section, she began to walk slower, fearful of accidentally running into Ruby and Weiss and ruining everything. As luck would have it, she heard the pair before she saw them.

"Do we really have to do this again? You know I how I feel about it."

Apparently, they were doing something that Weiss didn't like, though, admittedly, that could be a multitude of things. The uppity girl really didn't mince words when complaining. Yang climbed under the observation bleachers that ran the length of the back wall of the building and inched along, peering out between the steps. She finally came to Ruby and Weiss' booth and saw what was transpiring.

Ruby had set the targets at 100 yards which would have been strangely close for her standards if she was shooting her rifle. But she wasn't even holding Crescent Rose.

Weiss was.

"Come on, Weiss," Ruby groaned, brandishing Myrtenaster in the air. "I've told you before. We have to learn to use each other's weapons in case the situation comes up!"

Weiss eyed the scythe in her arms distastefully.

"I would rather avoid having to use this monstrosity in combat."

Ruby gasped in horror. "You take that back! Crescent Rose is not a—a monstrosity! She is a delicate flower who deserves the utmost love and care!"

"Delicate?"

"Delicate!" Ruby said sternly.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I still don't like it."

"You know what I think," Ruby smirked, "I think you're mad that you're no good with Crescent Rose."

Weiss scoffed. "And I suppose you think you're so great with Myrtenaster?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. She pivoted on the spot and leveled the silver rapier at the target down range. Deftly spinning the chamber with her thumb, she pulled the trigger, causing a red light to race along the blade and shoot out the tip. Yang almost didn't have to look to know the circular target 100 yards away now had a small burn mark near the center. Ruby had impeccable aim with almost any weapon, accurate out to 50 yards with a sling shot and out to 1500 yards with her sniper rifle. Yang shook her head. Weiss should have known better than to doubt Ruby's skill at shooting things. And from the scowl on Weiss' face, she must have felt the same way. Ruby's wide grin didn't help either.

"Fine," Weiss huffed. "I'll show you."

She planted the scythe's blade into the ground and got into shooting position, peering through the scope. After calmly breathing in and out, she pulled the trigger. Yang had fired Crescent Rose before and she knew that the kick was something else. She could handle it well enough, but a little thing like Weiss? The heiress had to use all her strength to avoid being thrown backwards. Ruby used her keen eyesight to spot the hit.

"A little to the left."

Another shot.

"A little to the right."

Another shot.

"Uh…a little to the left."

Three more shots rang out.

All misses.

"ARGH!" Weiss hung her head in frustration before glaring up at Ruby. "You were right, okay?"

"Weiss…"

"You were right. I hate this! I hate that I can't do it! I hate that I can't hit a stupid 100 yard target with what's probably the most accurate sniper rifle in Vale! There, are you happy now?"

Of the two years she had known her, Yang had never heard Weiss admit she couldn't do something. God knows, she had tried to get her to crack, but Weiss was just too prideful, too stubborn. Now, Yang wished she hadn't seen. There was just something so wrong about the sad, defeated way Weiss clutch the scythe.

Ruby frowned. "No. I'm not happy."

Weiss sighed, shoulders sagging.

"I'm sorry," she murmured almost too quietly for Yang to hear. "I didn't mean..."

Ruby gingerly placed a hand on her partner's arm.

"I know."

"Can you help me?"

"I don't know. _Can_ I?"

"You dunce."

Yang left the two to their own accords. That was way too much for one day. It was only the first day and she was already regretting her little project. But it was still too early to quit. She'd give it a few more days to see if she could catch what she'd observed on Monday. She was lost in her thoughts jogging back to the front of the range when she bumped into someone rounding the corner into the entrance way.

"Oof. Sorry, I wasn't—"

A familiar, black-haired Faunus stood in front of her, rubbing her forehead in pain.

"Blake! I thought you were still working."

"Professor Goodwitch asked me to copy the shooting range log book for records."

Yang glanced down to the book that was indeed in Blake's hands.

"Oh. Did you see?"

"My name? Yes. I wasn't aware I had signed in to the shooting range today."

"Heh heh," Yang chuckled nervously, "Well, _did_ you?"

She was instantly on the receiving end of one of those patented Blake looks. One of those "you better stop wasting my time or I'll kill you" looks.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you everything. Later when you get back, I promise."

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 **Thank you to everyone who read the previous chapter and a big thanks to those who reviewed!**

 **Please review! Any grammar/spelling corrections would be much appreciated. Thanks!**


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